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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · mate · mine · spell · rule · tube · file · chest

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mine — for digging
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. spell — magic
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. chest — of your body
  9. rule — a law
  10. spell — a short time
  11. file — a document
  12. tube — the underground
  13. chest — of your body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rule — government
  16. chest — a box
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tube — a container
  19. file — a tool
  20. spell — letters
  21. mate — a partner
  22. file — a line of people
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. mate — to breed

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com